Revealed: how Fernando Torres stopped Chelsea from signing Haaland
Chelsea were linked with a move for Erling Haaland when he was still at RB Salzburg, but the striker eventually moved to Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund.
Chelsea were strongly linked with the Norway international, but a move never materialised.
The Telegraph’s Matt Law has claimed that Chelsea were very close to signing Haaland two years ago, but were unwilling to pay for his wages and his agent’s fees.
Matt Law said on the London Is Blue Podcast: “Chelsea nearly signed Haaland before he went to Dortmund….they were very close to him. Pretty close. But at that stage, they weren’t keen to pay the wages and agent’s fees.”
However, another report on the Independent claims that Haaland was also sceptical about moving to the Premier League.
At age 20, Haaland is a household name in the world of football, and it seems like he has been around for many years.
However, the report from the Telegraph claims that Haaland and his father were worried about a move to the Premier League, having noticed that the likes of Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and Fernando Torres — players who had all announced themselves at such a young age, eventually got burned out at the peak of their career.
Torres went from finishing third in the 2008 Ballon d’or nominations to suffering a 24-goal match goal drought between October and March for Chelsea, and it’s not a story that Haaland likes.
With Chelsea in the mix for Haaland again, it’s yet to be seen if the 20-year-old will want to make the switch to the physically demanding Premier League.